Dozens of British nationals who were in the Caribbean when Hurricane Maria hit last week are still missing.
Victor Williams, 61, his wife Yvonne, and father Joseph are among the long list of British nationals who are still unaccounted for following the storm, which has killed at least 30 people.
The couple had just moved to the island of Dominica last month, and Victor’s daughter, Candice Garrett, 38, from Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, said she hasn’t heard from them in a week.
British troops have airlifted ten UK passport holders from Dominica, where at least 30 others are believed to still be missing.
Hurricane Maria has added to the extensive damage on British overseas territories after the region was pummelled by a second major storm in two weeks on Monday.
Victor Williams, 61, and his wife Yvonne are among the long list of British nationals who are still unaccounted for following Hurricane Maria, which has killed at least 30 people in the Caribbean
The couple (left) had just moved to the island of Dominica last month, and Victor’s daughter, Candice Garrett, 38, from Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, said she hasn’t heard from them in a week. Garrett said her Grandad, Joseph Williams (right), is also missing
Residents bathe and clean laundry in a river in Canefield in the Caribbean island of Dominica, four days after the passage of Hurricane Maria. Maria previously tore through several Caribbean islands, claiming the highest toll on Dominica, which has a population of around 72,000 and has been largely cut off from the outside world
Homes lay scattered after the passing of Hurricane Maria in Roseau, the capital of the island of Dominica on Saturday
A father and son search for fresh water on Sunday in Castle Comfort on the Caribbean island of Dominica following passage of Hurricane Maria
People await a boat to depart Roseau on the Caribbean island of Dominica following passage of Hurricane Maria on Sunday
A British man is among the dead following Maria, with his body yet to be recovered, after a boat capsized off Puerto Rico near Vieques, as Maria unleashed devastation.
The US Coast Guard in Miami said a British Royal Navy helicopter hoisted a woman and two children from the overturned vessel on Thursday, after a distress call was sent from the boat
Also among those unaccounted for following Maria are Stewart Andrews and his wife, Deb, who are originally from the North East.
Initial reports from Dominica suggest large-scale devastation, with 90 per cent of buildings damaged or destroyed by the storm which made landfall with the island on Monday.
The Government will give the hurricane-ravaged island of Dominica £5 million in UK aid, the International Development Secretary has announced.
Priti Patel will visit the Caribbean on Sunday, during a whistle-stop tour, so she can survey the damage caused to a number of British overseas territories.
Ms Patel announced the latest wave of UK Government support as she visited HMS Ocean, which on Friday delivered 60 tonnes of UK aid to the Caribbean, almost doubling the amount of aid in the region.
She said: ‘The UK has pledged to give £5 million to the people of Dominica, the island worst hit by Hurricane Maria – on top of the £57 million already promised to the region – to strengthen recovery following these relentless disasters.
‘I have come to the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla to see first-hand UK aid in action, helping families whose lives have been ripped apart first by Hurricane Irma and then Maria.
‘The UK is leading the way in the relief effort, delivering emergency food, water and shelter to those who need it most.
‘We will continue to clear up after this devastation in the weeks, months and years to come.’
Maria battered the overseas territory of Turks and Caicos (TCI) with winds of up to 125 mph on Friday, as the storm continued on its path to roll off the east coast of the United States.
The Foreign Office has advised: ‘Hurricane Maria has now passed TCI, but it added to the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Irma.’
Other overseas territories including the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla heavily hit my Irma, have escaped much of the wrath of Maria, with Montserrat also faring better than expected.
Chris Austin, head of the UK Task Force, said the region has been ‘relatively lucky so far’ with the impact of Hurricane Maria, with the ‘devastating exception of Dominica’.
Also hitting Puerto Rico, it was the strongest storm in more than 80 years to sweep across the country – flattening homes and plunging the island into darkness after taking down power lines.
Speaking to the Press Association, the governor of the British Virgin Islands said despite suffering heavy damage and devastation as a result of Irma, they are ‘open for business’.
A man walks in front of a damaged home in Wesley Village, Dominica, in the British Virgin Islands on Saturday
A small girl walks amongst a group of evacuees as they board a US Air Force C130 plane from Fort Dyess in Texas on Sunday at the Douglas Charles Airport in Dominica. Hurricane Maria inflicted catastrophic damages and at least 15 deaths in this Caribbean island
Gus Jaspert said they are ‘now moving from relief to recovery’, and that most of the British Virgin Islands are ‘affected in slightly different ways’.
He said the island of Anegada is ‘low lying community’ who did not get as much wind damage, with Virgin Gorda ‘heavily impacted’ by Irma.
Mr Jaspert said that the small island of Jost Van Dyke, home to just 300 people, have ‘very sadly been heavily devastated’.
After Maria he said there was a problem with the storm surge on the west end of Tortola which ‘knocked the road out’, and that ‘quite a lot of houses got flooded’ as a result of the heavy rain.
‘A big priority for us is trying to get back to normal as soon as possible, progress is being made but there are huge, huge challenges when we’ve not got electricity and water everywhere,’ he said.
‘On financial services we took some early decisions, led by the Premier who runs that part of government, to secure the industry and keep that going, and work out how that can operate from different locations, but still have BVI as the hub for it,’ he said.
Sailors from Plymouth based HMS Ocean have arrived on Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands, the ship full of relief aid and the sailors ready to work
The ship arrived Friday with around 650 personnel and 60 tonnes of aid including construction equipment and other essential materials such as hygiene kits and water purification tablets. Ocean’s arrival means there are now over 2,000 UK military personnel working on the relief effort, making it the largest deployment of UK personnel anywhere in the world
Within only a couple hours of dropping anchor, the relief teams arrived by air and sea, Utilising RAF Chinooks and Royal Navy Wildcat and Merlin Helicopters and Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) from 1 Assault Group Royal Marines. Pictured above, Royal Navy sailors at work clearing debris at Nanny Cay on the island of Tortola on Friday
‘We have a very strong financial services commission here, which is leading the way on good regulation – so all of that is in place and BVI is open for business, which is excellent.
‘But then more widely, we prioritised trying to restore the functions of normal life in a way.
‘We got the supermarkets open, we got the port open and getting supplies in, getting the banks opened and well stocked.
‘So people can, while there are lots of challenges for everyone, start to feel as though life is getting back to normal again.’
He said bouncing back is ‘going to be a challenge’, but that he thinks the recovery will take months, with high hopes for getting a tourist season in soon.
Mr Jaspert said they are also discussing how they can ‘build back better’ and ‘more green’.
‘We are also looking at ways in which we can reduce our own environmental impact as a mega lesson from Irma,’ he said.
‘And build back with more resilience as well. We are in a hurricane belt of the world, so how we build so that infrastructure is in a better position.’